PRAYER TO ST MICHAEL (LONG FORM)

Prince of the heavenly host, be our defense in the terrible warfarewhich we carry on against principalities and powers,against the rulers of this world of darkness, andspirits of evil. Come to the aid of man, whom Godcreated immortal, made in His own image and likeness,and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of thedevil. Fight this day the battle of the Lord, togetherwith the holy angels, as already thou hast fought theleader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostatehost, who were powerless to resist Thee, nor was thereplace for them any longer in heaven. That cruel, thatancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, whoseduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss withhis angels.

Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men hastaken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, hewanders about with all the multitude of wickedspirits, invading the earth in order to blot out thename of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay andcast into eternal perdition souls destined for thecrown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out,as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice onmen; his depraved mind, corrupt heart, his spirit oflying, impiety, blasphemy, his pestilential breath ofimpurity and of every vice and iniquity. These mostcrafty enemies have filled and inebriated with galland bitterness the Church, the Spouse of theImmaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on hermost sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself,where has been set up the See of the most holy Peterand the Chair of Truth for the light of the world,they have raised the throne of their abominableimpiety, with the iniquitous design that when thePastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered.

Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help againstthe attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God,and give them the victory. They venerate Thee as theirprotector and patron; in Thee Holy Church glories asher defense against the malicious power of hell; toThee has God entrusted the souls of men to beestablished in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the Godof peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so farconquered that he may no longer be able to hold men incaptivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers inthe sight of the Most High, so that they may quicklyconciliate the mercies of the Lord; and beating downthe dragon, the ancient serpent who is the devil andSatan, do Thou again make him captive in the abyss,that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.

V. Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered, hostilepowers.R. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, theroot of David.V. Let Thy mercies be upon us, O LordR. As we have hoped in Thee.V. O Lord, hear my prayer.R. And let my cry come unto Thee

LET US PRAYGod, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call uponThy holy name, and we humbly implore Thy clemency,that by the intercession of Mary, ever VirginImmaculate and our Mother, and of the gloriousArchangel St. Michael, Thou wouldst deign to help usagainst Satan and all other unclean spirits, whowander about the world for the injury of the humanrace and the ruin of souls. Amen.

It’s interesting that the commenter above thinks that this is an exorcism prayer, and yet it doesn’t seem to be any more bold then the commonly used short form prayer. Is it possible your link refers to another exorcism prayer by the same Pope?

You prayer above is a preamble to the exorcism prayer of Leo XIII. Most of the exorcism portion has been removed, yet where it says “Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered, hostile powers”…who are you speaking too? Not St. Michael…and not God. You are speaking to the Devil or a demon. I would say that it still contains elements of an exorcism formula and falls within the prohibition of the Holy See. To be sure, see if you can find an exorcist and ask him. That is the best way to find out.

And you could also first find out from an exorcist before making any pronouncements!

This prayer doesn’t contain any exorcism, preamble or not. What is scary about it? Is it scary to say “Vade Retro Satana” (Go back Satan)? I don’t think so; therefore, the excerpt you quoted is not scary.

This prayer is also posted on Taylor Marshall’s site (a traditional theologian).

Interesting how post Vatican II, this prayer that was proper to the laity, is suddenly not for the laity? Hmm. I wonder why? Should we not pray against the demonic forces in the world? Is that the real objective?

You’re going to have to show me something that lists this exact prayer with an admonition not to pray it. 🙂

Ok..my friend who is an exorcist just got back to me, and according to him the version that you have above is not prohibited by the Holy See. Hello, The prohibited prayer is the one that is in the Roman Ritual, Chapter Three of the section on exorcisms.

“The St. Michael Prayer that has been forbidden to the laity is NOT the Prayer to St. Michael, which Catholics may pray publicly and privately in all kinds of circumstances, including after the rosary, after Mass (but outside the liturgy to comply with Church norms) or any other time one wants. The Church greatly encourages this prayer. In fact, 1994 Pope John Paul II asked people to say it more often. A Polish bishop once told a priest I know that the reason was the increase of the demonic in our world.

The prayer that is forbidden is an exorcism prayer, also from Pope Leo XIII, which adjures the Enemy and the demons directly. This prayer was widely distributed in the past by TAN Books in a little pamphlet. It is this prayer which is forbidden to the laity, not the shorter “St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil …”

I appreciate the clarification, but to be safe, I will stick with the easy-to-remember and just as effective short version St Michael’s prayer. I also try to say on a regular basis the St Michael Chaplet, which we pray in the name of all nine choirs of angels. If said on a regular basis, we are promised to have 9 angels from each choir accompany us to Holy Communion, and we will have St Michael’s continual assistance along with all the holy angels throughout our earthly life. And I personally need all the help I can get!

Join the conversation via an occasional emailGet only replies to your comment, the best of the rest, as well as a daily recap of all comments on this post. No more than a few emails daily, which you can reply to/unsubscribe from directly from your inbox.